How to knock in and oil your new cricket bat.

Posted
on November 05, 2011

How to knock in and oil your new cricket bat. Part 1 ( oiling )

So this is part one of this little series on

How to oil and knock in your new cricket bat.

As you have seen this video is about oiling your cricket bat. You would also have noticed that i am using the laver and wood method on this cricket bat. The bat im using is a Vindico Zulu players + cricket bat. This is the top of the line Vindico bat but has been discontinued. So basically you can say im holding a Ltd Edition bat. The only remaining bats in the new 2012 range are the Vindico Genghis and the Vindico Geronimo. Both bats are available in Test + and Players + bats. the better bat being the players +.

To give you a bit of history on the piece of willow im using, Its english willow, probably a product of J.S. Wright & Sons i the UK. the oldest and largest english willow producer in the world. The Clefts then travel in container to the sub continent where they are graded and made into cricket bats.

This bat was either made in the BAS factory or the RNS factory in India. It was custom made for Vindico USA and is now in my possession. The bats go through a final grading and stickering process here in the united states by the owners of Vindico cricket before they make their way to me.

Here is a section of the laver and wood oiling and knocking in process i am using to get this bat ready for use.

...There are different ways of preparing your bat for the knocking in process, but we recommend the following process as repeated trials in bat factories have shown us that this works far better than all other methods.Raw linseed oil should be used to moisten the surface of the bat and enable the fibres to become supple. This helps them knit together, thus forming an elastic surface. This is more likely to stretch on impact, rather than crack. Raw linseed is used, as it stays moist for longer than boiled linseed. About a teaspoonful should be applied to the surface of the bat.We recommend that oil should be applied once (3 times if not one of our bats) before the process of compressing the face begins. Each coat of oil should be about one teaspoon full. Spread the oil over the face of the bat using your fingers. Spread the leftover linseed oil over the edges and toe of the bat. Let each coat of oil soak in overnight and repeat the process before starting the knocking in with the mallet.